
Happy

PROGRESS

OUR GOAL: A CIRCLE OF SUPPORTERS GIVING $350/MONTH OR $4200 FOR THE YEAR

Rwanda
Adventist University of Central Africa

Accounting
CAREER: Accountant
GRAD DATE: 2025
JOURNEY
- March 1, 2023 – In a recent Leadership Development Workshop, we explored the question, “How can you make sure the pain of your past doesn’t determine your future?” What stood out and meant the most to you in this workshop? Happy said: “The workshop teachings were endowed with several wise statements like ‘Confidence is always silent unless you ask,’ ‘knowing that you have the favor of God on you changes everything,’ and many more. What really stood out to me was this statement ‘If you’re going to go far in life don’t look at the future through the rearview of the past.’ This statement, when I think about it meditatively, helps me see that we will come to understand the destiny we desire is far different than where we came from, what we have done before, and what we have been through.”
- September 8, 2022 – Happy discussed the biggest changes in his life since the end of the COVID restrictions: “A lot has changed! The liberty to go out into the community and socialize again. I have learned to carefully follow procedures. But the biggest change for me has been that of learning. After the end of the COVID-19 restrictions I learned that patience is a greater virtue. I have learned how to be patient and this has given me a new approach to life, in particular how to mold my life. There will be hindrances, things that are difficult, but the truth is they’re not permanent. Through patience, I have kept my strength to do the things I wish to pursue. This all started during the pandemic when heavy restrictions where in place and no one knew when or how this would be over. I would find myself losing patience, as I often thought to myself what am I doing, by this time I should have done this and that, but I calmed myself through prayer and picked patience as tool to help me. It’s after the COVID-19 restrictions that I realized that patience has become a bigger part of me in everything I have done and will do hereafter.
Happy’S CIRCLE
BIO
Happy was born in the Eastern Province of Rwanda and is the third born in a family of seven children. Happy had two older siblings to look up to and four younger siblings that looked up to him. Growing up, most households in Happy’s community were cattle keepers. Happy’s family made a living by rearing cows and poultry, but as he and his siblings got older and attended school, there was a need for additional money to support their education. Happy’s father, without any prior knowledge, opened a small retail shop which supported the family. Happy remembers being in the shop with his younger sister, selling items alongside his father, and loved seeing people come in the shop and buy things. When he was 14 years old, Happy visited an aunt in Uganda where he would accompany her to her cookie and plantain shop. Happy came to appreciate and love the business world and is fascinated by trade. While four of the siblings were already in secondary school, Happy’s parents took out a bank loan to invest in a business plan. Unfortunately, the business failed and Happy’s parents lost money and the bank took some of their property. This impacted Happy’s education, so much so that he dropped out in 2018 and became a youth minister. Happy’s older sister encouraged him to go back to school. Happy is now studying Accounting at Adventist University of Central Africa. Happy decided to major in Accounting because it reflects his early experiences and he loves that it’s technical. He enjoys doing practical things vs. more theoretical things. After graduation, Happy dreams of starting a training program to teach accounting basics to small business owners. He hopes to teach them about management tools, like bookkeeping and stock management. Happy loves music and singing with people. He also loves traveling and hopes to venture to new places.